1 So I
made up my mind not to make you another painful visit.
2 For if I cause you
pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
3 And I wrote as
I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should
have made me rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy
would be the joy of all of you. 4
For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish
of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know
the abundant love that I have for you.
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 But if anyone has
caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some extent—not to
exaggerate it—to all of you. 6
This punishment by the majority is enough for
such a person; 7
so now instead you should forgive and console him, so
that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
8 So I urge you to
reaffirm your love for him. 9
I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know
whether you are obedient in everything.
10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also
forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for
your sake in the presence of Christ. 11
And we do this so that we may not be
outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Paul’s Anxiety in Troas
12 When I came to
Troas to proclaim the good news of Christ, a door was opened for me in the
Lord; 13
but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there.
So I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to
God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us
spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.
15 For we are
the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those
who are perishing; 16
to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the
other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
17 For we
are not peddlers of God’s word like so many;f
but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God
and standing in his presence.